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"Don't forget, we have a spelling test on
Friday." Miss DuBois simply shook her head at the
chorus of groans that rose from her students,
shuffling through the books and papers on her desk.
"Okay, it looks like that's it for today... I want
you all to be sure to study the words we worked on
today, and you'll also need to have the one-one-one
rule memorized... See you all tomorrow!" Smiling,
she looked her students over as they began
uncoiling from their after-lunch lethargy,
gathering their belongings and starting small
conversations among themselves.
The little woman watched a particularly puzzling
student as she rounded up papers that needed
grading and workbooks... Drocalen was the youngest
student in her class, easily five or six years
behind everyone, and certainly the shyest, though
he -did- seem to be getting over that. He was
extraordinarily bright, which was pretty much a
given if one was in her class, and he'd impressed
several of the older people with several
consecutive puns the other day...
"What time do you usually get here? 'Cause if
you want, I can teach you to play chess... I know
you're here before I am, so..." Julian patted the
portable chess set where it sat on his desk, one
arm wrapped around his green notebook, holding it
to his chest. He was grinning at the younger man,
roundish face smooth and friendly.
Drocalen carefully tucked the last piece of
paper into his binder and snapped the rings shut,
slowly re-reading the 1-1-1 rule laboriously copied
from the blackboard in his sprawling, loopy
handwriting before looking up. "Um... I'm not sure.
About, um...fifteen minutes before class starts?"
Blushing a little, wondering why he was doing so,
he glanced to the folded game with its orderly
black and white squares and nods. "Would you? It's
not very hard, is it?" It seemed like the right
question to ask. He felt the least out-of-place in
this class, where he didn't tower over the other
students, or have to keep asking for things to be
reiterated... It was a comfort to be among people
that were always asking what this was or that
meant, or saying that they didn't get something. He
also liked Miss DuBois rule that you couldn't call
anybody else 'stupid' or tell them to shut up just
because they were asking. "After all," She was fond
of saying. "The only way to find out is to ask."
"Yeah, you're always here when I get here, so...
Yeah. Okay, I'll be here early then, tomorrow." His
grin widens, Julian's head nodding in time to the
bouncing of his knee... Not a habit, not to get rid
of excess energy, but merely another quirk that
went along with all the things that landed you in
this class. "Nah, it's easy. All you gotta do is
t'learn how the pieces move." Shaking his hair out
of his eyes, he checks his watch, making an
exaggeratedly horrified face. "Welp, I gotta go or
I'll miss my ride... See ya!" Scooping the flat box
from the desktop, he stands and swiftly makes his
way out of the classroom, whistling something
vaguely familiar as he goes.
"Tomorow." Dro nods, solemn, closing his
notebook gently and drumming his fingers on the
pale blue canvas. The reasurrance that chess wasn't
difficult to learn draws another smile from him,
and the face gets a real laugh from the boy.
"Goodbye, then." Returning his attention to packing
up his belongings, he leans down and tugs his new
backpack out from under his seat, resting it in his
lap briefly. Unzipping it forces him to rearrange a
few things... His box of crayons would get broken
if it stayed on the bottom much longer, and there
were things falling out of his math book... Setting
his math, reading, and Slingerland books out on his
desk, he studied them with a small frown.
He was a real mess, academically speaking.
Remedial reading with the first-graders, math with
the second-graders, and then working on handwriting
and spelling with...adults. He didn't think that
people stayed in school their entire lives, so they
must want to keep learning, or something. He'd have
to ask Maliah or Joe when he got back. Speaking of
getting back...! Almost all the other students were
gone, and They'd be expecting him back, soon... He
had to get going. Shoving books and papers
haphazardly into his pack, he nibbled at his lower
lip. He actually liked going to school, and They'd
probably lock him up for good if They thought he'd
taken off again... The crayons are last in, the
dark green knapsack hurriedly zipped up, and Dro
nearly runs down Miss DuBois in his haste.
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